Maria Sharapova and Ekaterina Makarova meet
in the quarter-finals of Australian Open for the 2nd year in a row. Last year
Sharapova won in straight sets. In-fact Sharapova has won all the meetings with Makarova (4-0). For a preview of Radwanska/Li match, please go here
Makrova has the game and the fire-power to
dispose off the top players, as she showed by handing Serena Williams an early
exit last year, and moving past Marion Bartoli and Angelique Kerber this year,
however, Sharapova has been in blistering form so far and has lost only 5 games
so far in making it to the quarter-finals.
Let us have a look at the performance of
the 2 players so far in the tournament.
The stats have been averaged for the 4 matches played by the players so far
| Description | Sharapova | Makarova |
| Aces | 4 | 4 |
| Double Faults | 3 | 3 |
| 1st Serve %age | 58% | 58% |
| 1st serve points won | 78% | 63% |
| 2nd serve points won | 57% | 47% |
| Net points won | 59% | 70% |
| Break points won | 59% | 64% |
| 1st serve return won | 59% | 41% |
| 2nd serve return won | 70% | 66% |
| Winners | 19 | 24 |
| Unforced Errors | 15 | 19 |
Numbers clearly indicate that Sharpaova
is the heavy favourite going into the match. Let us have a look at some of the vital compenents of the game, which might be the deciding factors.
Serve: Sharapova has lost her serve just
once in the tournament so far, while Makarova has been broken 16 times so far.
I guess, this speaks it all. Sharapova's only loss of serve came at the hands
of Venus Williams in her 3rd round match. Watch out for the difference in the
first and 2nd serve points won by each player.
Net Points won : Makarova's only chance to
trouble Sharapova will be by trying to bring her as much to net as possible, as
the numbers favour Makarova in net play.
Return of Serve: Sharapova has won a whopping 59% of the points when returning the first serve and 70% while
returning the 2nd serve of her opponents, Makarova is behind Sharapova in winning points
while returning the second serve of her opponents, but Sharapova has won 57% points
on average behind her 2nd serve which might make life difficult for Makarova and she may find difficult winning points while returning the second serve of Sharapova.
Makarova will be trying to make it to her
first ever Grand Slam semi-final, while Sharapova will be eyeing to make it to
her 6th Australian Open semi-final. Makarova is 0-1 in Australian Open
quarter-finals while Sharapova is 5-0.
Unless, Sharapova has a very off day and
Makarova has a very good day, I can't see Makarova pulling it off over
Sharapova.
Pick: Sharapova in 2 sets.
What do you think? Do you see Makarova reeling off more than 3 games in a set?
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